Pilot Program for a "SmartShirt"

Sensatex, Inc. is preparing a pilot study of a "SmartShirt" that was originally developed by DARPA and the Georgia Institute of Technology.  The shirt contains an integrated sensor system that can measure the wearer's heart rate, respiration and body temperature.  The data from the SmartShirt can be read wirelessly into a PDA or a PC for further analysis.

Sensatex envisions the primary market for SmartShirts will be first responders (fire fighters, police, EMTs), athletes and perhaps soldiers.  It is also developing a "Health Monitoring System" that would allow patients with chronic conditions to be monitored remotely by healthcare professionals.

In a similar vein, Sensatex is also developing a SmartBra that would monitor vital signs.

Sensatex is reportedly looking for beta testers for its SmartShirt.  If you are interested, visit the company's website for contact information (in "Contact Us" under the site's "Press Room" tab, or info@sensatex.com).

Source:  Roland Piquepaille's Tech Trends

Tags: smart clothes, biometrics, healthcare

Global Warming Slows Wind Patterns

Could global warming be weakening air circulation between the eastern and western regions of the Pacific Ocean?  It's possible, according to a recent study conducted by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Reviewing records dating back to 1861, the research team found that a steady west-to-east flow of tropical Pacific air called the Walker circulation is declining due to lessening pressure differences between the two regions of the ocean.  The team then constructed models that suggested that only human-driven atmospheric warming could account for the reduced pressure.

The result of a weakened Walker circulation?  The Walker circulation, among other things, governs the El Niño-La Niña weather cycle, and a depressed air flow could cause more El Niño rainy cycles.  Such cycles could help alleviate drought in the western US, but could also cause dry spells in tropical regions.

Source:  ScienceNOW

Tags: global warming, El Nino, La Nina, Walker circulation

End of an Era? Hummer Sunsets the H1

After the 2006 model season, Hummer will discontinue its H1 model SUV -- the original, modeled after the military HumVee, which caused a sensation when introduced to the civilian market in 1992.

Although Hummer's parent company GM denies it, one has to wonder if the H1's atrocious gas mileage (10 MPG) had any bearing on the decision in this age of $3+ gas. Always considered a tiffany product aimed at celebrities and others willing to pay $130,000 and up for a status symbol, the H1 was never a big seller in terms of volume. And people who can afford that much for a car are among those least affected by higher gas prices. Nevertheless, the H1's sales were off 14% from 2004.

Perhaps posterity will look back on the H1 as an artifact peculiar to our time, among the first victims of a broader cultural shift in attitudes surrounding energy and the environment. Or, they may see it as simply another exotic vehicle that had a respectable 14-year run.

Source: MSNBC

Moble Phones Fueling Economy in Bangladesh

We've seen before how technology can help impoverished countries improve their standard of living by putting isolated individuals and communities in touch with jobs and critical resources.  Key among these technologies is the cell phone, which is helping people in Bangladesh, one of the world's poorest countries

The mobile phone industry there employs nearly 240,000 people, putting a badly needed $650 million into the nation's GDP and paying $256 million in taxes.

Falling costs and better coverage have led to an explosive growth in cell phone usage in Bangladesh, with 11 million citizens now owning a cell phone.  Granted, that's only 7% of the total population, but considering that nearly half of those people survive on less than a dollar a day, that's impressive.

Source:  AFP (via Yahoo)

Tags: Bangladesh, cell phone, mobile phone, leapfrogging

Get Ready for Blikis

Combine a blog and a wiki, and you get a bliki.  It's deceptively simple... adding blog-style posting and an RSS feed to the DIY collaborative and archiving capability of a wiki.  It's one of those ideas that makes you say "Why didn't I think of that ?!?"

The Social Synergy Bliki is an example of a bliki in action.  It's very new and a work in progress, but it illustrates how a bliki could meet the needs of individuals and groups who until now haven't seen the value of either blogs or wikis.

If you'd like to give the idea a try, the bliki also has instructions for creating your own.

Source:  Smart Mobs

Tags: blogs, wikis, blikis

What does Google Trends tell us?

Google Trends is quite interesting to play around with to see how different search terms have been used within Google. For example, I looked at eLearning as compared with Knowledge Management...




You can see that eLearning and Knowledge Management have both been trending downward in searches. Does that imply something as is suggested in: Organic KM: KM Is Losing Steam - Evidence From "The Database Of Intentions" ?

I'm not so sure that you can directly jump to the conclusion that interest in these topics are waning. Rather, I think with both Knowledge Management and eLearning the conversations have shifted as they've become more day-to-day kinds of concerns. On the other hand, I do think you can glean interest in other topics such as:



Which to me seems like a fairly accurate depiction of the interest that I've heard at conferences over the last few years.

Keywords: eLearning Trends

A Minority Baby Boom

According to the US Census Bureau, nearly half of all American children under 5 are of a racial or ethnic minority background... with 70% of those children of Hispanic origin.

The implications of this are not lost on those who study demographics and its impact not only on current needs such as education, but on future populations:

William H. Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution, predicted that the United States will have "a multicultural population that will probably be more tolerant, accommodating to other races and more able to succeed in a global economy."

There could be increased competition for money and power, he added: "The older, predominantly white baby-boom generations will need to accommodate younger, multiethnic young adults and child populations in civic life, political decisions and sharing of government resources" in places such as the Washington suburbs.

Source: Washington Post (via MSNBC)